The Central Bank of Kenya has announced that charges for transactions between mobile money wallets and bank accounts, which were waived will be reinstated.
As part of the emergency measures to facilitate the use of mobile money in the context of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the charges were waived in 2020.
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CBK in a statement said the new charges, which will be significantly lower than the previous ones, will take effect on January 1, 2023.
When the fees were removed, the Kenyan payments ecosystem grew significantly.
Kenyans actively using mobile money increased by more than 6.2 million. Person-to-person transactions increased in monthly volume and value from 162 million transactions worth Ksh 234 billion to 440 million transactions worth Ksh 399 billion.
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The monthly volume and value of transactions between payment service providers and banks grew from 18 million transactions worth approximately Ksh 157 billion to over 113 million transactions worth approximately Ksh 800 billion.
According to the CBK, this result confirms that the mitigation measures were timely and effective, resulting in significant benefits across the financial system.
The reinstatement of revised charges is intended to build on these gains by facilitating a transition to the sustainable growth of the mobile money ecosystem and ensuring the affordability of payment services for Kenyans.
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“Following consultations with payment service providers and banks, CBK has reviewed the applicable maximum charges for transactions between mobile money and bank accounts, and their alignment to the Pricing Principles,” the Central Bank said in a statement.
The revised fees for bank-to-wallet and wallet-to-bank transactions will be announced by the respective PSPs and banks and will go into effect on January 1, 2023.
